Come on, how could you even try to take them and the story seriously? This whole idea of evil darkspawn destroying the world is retarded in any way. Don't look for logic where you can't find it. HEY! HELLO! IT'S BIOWARE!

Originally Posted by Konjad
Come on, how could you even try to take them and the story seriously? This whole idea of evil darkspawn destroying the world is retarded in any way. Don't look for logic where you can't find it. HEY! HELLO! IT'S BIOWARE!

I do not agree. Even though its fantasy, it does not mean that the world as it self does not abide to certain rules. Even though the author sets it, it has to be grounded in some sort of logic.

It's such bland, generic setting with all the tens of millions spent on the production, it's staggering how unoriginal and uninspired the game is. How dull the dialogue is. All that money went to voice actors and render farms. (and, of course, promotion.)

I actually like my fantasy fairly stereotypical. 14th century works for me. Leiber, Tolkien, etc. That's whats so stunning about Dragon Age. I should like it. I'm the target audience, or part thereof.

I know I'm not the only one reading this who's been through a few tabletop campaigns that featured far, far more imagination; usually sprung from the minds of caffeinated, but ordinary, teenagers. Not professional writers paid tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Of course, it's the marketing dept. that probably made the end product so forgettable. Keep it generic. Appeal to the largest demographic. Sigh.

The Darkspawn are, I agree, dumb. What's really unfortunate is how seamlessly they fit into the greater dumbness they inhabit.

(All of this is even more meaningless because the real problems with the game are the core mechanics. Inching ever closer to the DVD-menu-as-game genre is Bioware.)

It'd be better 'darkspawn' than 'shitspawn'. Though, on the other hand…

Originally Posted by Twotricks
I do not agree. Even though its fantasy, it does not mean that the world as it self does not abide to certain rules. Even though the author sets it, it has to be grounded in some sort of logic.

Otherwise its just fairytale.

Well, then DA is a fairytale (and the worst one I ever heard). It's just illogical, story, characters etc. It's plainly retarded. There is no explanation to this. I didn't expect more from a modern Bioware anyway.

Originally Posted by Dyspaire
It's such bland, generic setting with all the tens of millions spent on the production, it's staggering how unoriginal and uninspired the game is. How dull the dialogue is. All that money went to voice actors and render farms. (and, of course, promotion.)

I actually like my fantasy fairly stereotypical. 14th century works for me. Leiber, Tolkien, etc. That's whats so stunning about Dragon Age. I should like it. I'm the target audience, or part thereof.

I know I'm not the only one reading this who's been through a few tabletop campaigns that featured far, far more imagination; usually sprung from the minds of caffeinated, but ordinary, teenagers. Not professional writers paid tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Of course, it's the marketing dept. that probably made the end product so forgettable. Keep it generic. Appeal to the largest demographic. Sigh.

The Darkspawn are, I agree, dumb. What's really unfortunate is how seamlessly they fit into the greater dumbness they inhabit.

(All of this is even more meaningless because the real problems with the game are the core mechanics. Inching ever closer to the DVD-menu-as-game genre is Bioware.)

Your entire argument hinges on the assumption that they lack the requisite intelligence to speak, craft arms/armor and perform other various high level tasks/functions Excuse my appeal to ignorance, however, absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence(that cartoon kills me).

Originally Posted by Twotricks
Further more - they are hive mind. Sci Fi concept usually connected to insectoids.

The darkspawn horde is connected through the taint, functioning as a hive-mind similar to ants. While high ranking darkspawn (like Emissaries or Alphas) have a limited influence upon small groups, only an archdemon can command the entire horde.

I think they could stand to flesh out the lore more(or have they?). But I have no problem with Biowhore borrowing concepts from sci-fi.

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What killed immersion for me wasn't the concept of the darkspawn - no, it was the lack of meaningful C&C. *Spoiler alert* I played as a mage and all throughout that origin and later mage related encounters blood magic was looked upon as a taboo or innately evil(Jowan was to be made tranquil for having been accused of dabbling in it). Yet after gaining access to the specialization no one seemed to care one way or the other, hell I could get Wynne to become one too! That was a huge let down(IMO), after having built up the dangers of blood magic they simply let an excellent opportunity for RPing go untapped. Oh well.

I don't see your point. So they can't speak, that doesn't make them stupid. Humans were probably as smart 100000 years ago as they are today, they just lacked the knowledge, maybe their form of communication is through grunts, smell, facial expressions, who knows.
I'm all for having fantasy game/worlds be belieavable, but at least this didn't bother me.

Originally Posted by MasterKromm
What killed immersion for me wasn't the concept of the darkspawn - no, it was the lack of meaningful C&C.

What does "C&C" mean here ? I only know this abbreviation as of "Command & Conquer".

—  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius  and a lot of courage  to move in the opposite direction. (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)